EE CHEE WA MAA! - Squad Reactions

CahoonM -

I have now seen Leia Organa, Chief Chirpa, Paploo, and the Ewok Hunters. I will talk about how I think they'll all work together and individually. You can still consider this article speculation since everything can be way different on paper than on the table. Eventually, I will be writing Unit Guides on most/all of the units in the game, but that will have to wait until I can get some playtime in with them.

I've been out of the scene for a while, I know these were released a bit ago, but I have not had the chance to look at them deeply yet. I will be doing this with any packs that I missed.

Primary - Leia Organa, Freedom Fighter

  • 7 SP - I'll be honest here, I was not anticipating her to be 7 SP primary. I'm by no means mad about it, but I do find it interesting.
  • 3 FP - This feels on par with what we should expect from Leia. She is the Chosen One's daughter after all.
  • 10 Stamina / 3 Durability - I think this is pretty standard. I would've likely guessed 9/3 but 10 still feels good. This puts her in a pretty durable spot.

Infiltrate - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, one allied Rebel Alliance character may [advance]. I love it. I love it. I love it. I just adore free moves and I love that there are so many solid tactic abilities that grant moves.

Defensive Maneuver - This is an Active Ability with the cost of 1 FP.  Each character in this unit may [Dash]. If any characters [Dash], this unit gains one [Hunker]. I was starting to wonder if we would see this ability on any non-clone units. I am glad that we have. I love this ability on clones and I bet I'll love it on her. Granted, she does not mesh with Obi-Wan and can't benefit from his ability.

Explosive Charge - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 2 FP. Choose an objective within [range] 3. Each allied character within [range] 2 of that objective may [dash] and gain [hunker]. Then, each unit within [range] 2 of that objective suffers [damge][damage] and removes any [hunker] it has. Oh Man, I love this. The idea of some form of Saboteur bombs in this game makes me very excited. I can see this ability being extremely effective as both an active attack and a solid deterrent. I worry a little bit about the implications of moving your own units away from that objective, but if you will live through the double damage while your opponent won't, then it can be very good and swapping control.

Coordinated Fire: [Expose] - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When another allied Galactic Republic character makes an attack as part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, this Unit may use this ability. If the targeted character is within [Range] 5 of a character in this Unit, the target gains [Expose]. As we have seen with ARF Troopers, this particular CF ability is nasty. This is a fantastic way to do massive amounts of damage against just about any unit. It can be a great way to supplement lower damage output units by guaranteeing more of their hits go through.

Unexpected Allies - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. Allied Rebel Alliance units have the Ewok tag. Allied Ewok units have the Rebel Alliance tag. I have not seen all of the Ewok abilities yet, but I'm sure this Identity ability has some pretty massive use cases. I bet there will be some seriously funky combos to swing with via this Identity and I can't wait to see what they are.

Stealth Mission

This stance is good. 6 Attack dice at range and 7 in melee is a decent start. The defensive dice stay similar by going 5 at range and 6 in melee, leaning this stance towards melee. Her ranged attack expertise here is okay, but not great. Extra damage is always nice and she gets a few crits. Her melee expertise is a bit better, but still not super hot. Her defense expertise on the other hand is pretty dang good. getting a Crit->Hit off of 1-2 expertise icons is solid. She gets more blocks the higher you go and she also gets a Crit delete at 4+. Her combat tree on this stance is weirdly weak, especially once you get a look at her next stance. I'll be honest, I don't see why you would really ever want to be on this stance unless you're forced into a melee engagement with something nasty.

Frontal Assault

This stance seems much better at first glance. Both the attack and defense die suites swap completely from Stealth Mission, meaning this stance feels more ranged-focused. The same goes for her attack expertise. They are identical but swapped. Her defensive expertise is very nearly identical but slightly worse at the top, only generating one block instead of two. Her combat tree is significantly better on this stance. She's topping out at nine damage from only 5 successes. She also has the chance to get a whole slew of effects and abilities, including a free Active. Getting her Explosives for free could be huge for changing the tempo of a game. I cannot wait to give this a try.

Overall, I am surprised by how excited I am about playing Leia. She seems like the exact kind of unit I have been dying to play. Between her Explosives, Identity, and her Stances I think she will make for a very good Primary unit. Perhaps one of the best.

Primary - Chief Chirpa

  • 7 SP - This is also quite surprising. Once I got a good look at Leia, her 7 SP cost made sense, so maybe that will also be the case here. I can't help but feel like he's only a 7 so he can match Leia for being in the same box.
  • 3 FP - I don't think it would've been too crazy to see him with only 2, but it would not put him up to snuff in comparison to the other 7SP units.
  • 10 Stamina / 2 Durability - Wow, this feels kinda bad. 10 Stamina is not a bad place to start at all, but with only 2 durability he's liable to actually get removed in a game. This reminds me of Maul's 11/2 and Maul is the only primary unit (so far) that I have seen consistently removed from the table.

Bola Toss - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Choose an enemy unit within [range] 3. The chosen unit gains [Pin] or [Expose]. This is a pretty solid ability. I can't say for sure how useful it will be as a use of 1 FP, but I can imagine certain situations where it could win games. Exposing an enemy for 1 FP does not seem like a terrible deal at first glance.

Stealthy Approach - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [dash]. Then this unit may gain [hunker] or immediately make a focus action. This is also a solid ability. I like the fact that there is a choice to be made here. Offensive or Defensive. The flexibility that it adds to your choices of how to play Chirpa is very nice. I imagine this ability will see a lot of use.

Mobilize the Village - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. While this unit is not wounded, characters in other allied Ewok units within [range] 4 add 1 die to their attack rolls. Simple and effective. This has a lot of potential to be nasty, especially when you look at Leia's ability to give Rebel units the Ewok tag. I imagine this could see some solid use with many different lists.

Sharp Stick - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Characters in this unit have Impact [2]. When a character in this unit makes a [melee] attack, the target unit does not benefit from Protection. This ability should make Chirpa hit like a bus. Up to 10 dice in a single attack could make a huge difference for him getting all the way down his tree. Add in the bonus of ignoring protection and he will be causing some serious issues.

Bright Tree Defender - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. While this unit is not wounded, when another allied Ewok unit becomes wounded, after the effect is resolved, roll an attack die. On a [Critical] or [Strike] result, each character in this unit may [reposition] and make a 5 dice attack. On a [Failure] or [Expertise] result, each character in this unit may [Dash] and [Heal][Heal]. Is it just me or are these Ewok abilities getting longer and wordier by the second? I like this ability, but it does feel a little bit situational. It's directly impacted by the choices that you force your opponent to make, which is fine, but can mean that it may never proc effectively. I think both possibilities are equally strong, but I do wish it was a choice rather than random. There will be times when you're desperate for a heal and just cannot roll the right results to pull it off.

Bright Tree Elder

This stance seems to be Chripa's more ability-oriented stance. He's got 6 attack dice in melee and 0 at range. His defense dice are 5 at range and 6 in melee. I wouldn't have minded seeing him with some weak little "Slingshot" ranged attack, but he's a melee-oriented character anyway. His melee expertise is not bad. He generates extra damage at every level, and a respectable amount of crits higher on the chart. His defensive expertise is really good. It should help him stay alive a good amount with how low his durability is. Generating crit deletes at 2+ is amazing, especially when you pair it with 1-2 blocks. The combat tree here feels a little bit lacking to me, but that free active ability at the end is what I like. I think this stance is worth using almost exclusively for that active proc and his improved defenses.

Fury of the Forest

This seems like Chirpa's more combat-oriented stance. He still only has a melee attack in which he's getting 7 dice vs the previous 6. His defense dice go down to 5 each, which is likely not a huge issue, but could cause some problems. his melee expertise is excellent. He loses the extra damage in favor of generating a ton of crits. His defensive expertise is not super hot, but it's still not bad. The change from full crit deletes to crit->strikes hurts his defensive capabilities. That is all made up for by how much better this combat tree is. He tops out at 9 damage with chances to do any of the conditions, a reposition, and a few heals. The fact that he can choose between all potential conditions is fantastic, but I do miss the active ability proc.

Overall, I think Chirpa is going to find his way into a lot of my Rebel lists. He seems like a bit of a puzzle to figure out, but that is what I love doing. I could see him making future releases very powerful with his Mobilize the Village ability.

Secondary - Paploo, Curious Creature

  • 4 PC - Seems pretty standard, hard to say as of right now what the Rebel average will be for secondaries, but I imagine 4 will still be King like it is with other "Factions"
  • 0 FP - 
  • 9 Stamina / 2 Durability - This is also pretty standard for a secondary. I think 9 still feels a little low, but considering how they did our boy Chirpa, I'm surprised Paploo isn't a 7/2 or 8/2.

Feigned Retreat - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Choose another allied Ewok character within [range] 3 and an enemy character that the chosen character is engaged with. The chosen allied character may [reposition] away from the chosen enemy character and gain [hunker]. Then the chosen enemy character gains [expose] and may [dash] toward the chosen allied character. I like this, even if it's use case is not very apparent to me. Getting a big move and giving an expose is a nice deal for 1 FP.

Stealthy Approach - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [dash]. Then this unit may gain [hunker] or immediately make a focus action. Just like with Chirpa and any other Ewoks who have this, I like this ability a lot. It's flexible and allows the Ewoks to play both offensively and defensively depending on what you need.

Fearless and Inventive - This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of 1 FP. When a character in this unit makes a [melee] attack as part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, this unit may use this ability. Add 2 dice to the attack pool for each enemy character, other than the target, that is not wounded and is engaged with one or more characters in this unit. There are a lot of words and stipulations in this ability. I like it, but the requirements make me feel like this will not proc all that often. When it does proc though, it will be very good.

What Does This Do? - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When a character in this unit makes a [melee] attack targeting an enemy character that has [expose] or [pin], that attacking character may use the target character's [melee] expertise character during that attack, instead of its own. This ability is nutso! I love this so much. I think it could make or break Paploo. You will love this ability if you're going up against someone like Dooku, Asajj, Ani, or Mace. I think it has a chance of being very very good, but it is very matchup dependent.

Loaded Questions

Not a bad stance by any means. He's getting a solid 5 attack dice at range and 6 in melee, but with so many Ewok abilities out there this could potentially look like 7-10+ based on what you can proc. 5 Defense dice at range and melee is okay, but not super great until you see his defensive expertise. The ranged expertise here is not that bad, but not super great. You'll see a bit of an interesting theme with him. He, unlike every character so far, actually wants to roll fewer expertise icons. The same is said for his melee expertise. It is pretty good assuming you roll only 1-2 expertise, preferably 1. His defensive expertise is fantastic. Getting 2 blocks and a crit->strike off of one icon is hilariously good. I am a big fan of this backward expertise thing and I think it's thematic since he's sorta known for being a bit of a doof. His combat tree is okay but does relatively little damage. He can push out a respectable amount of effects and shoves though. Add in that reposition and he's sitting pretty good.

Overall, I am a fan of Paploo. I can't wait to get some of these furry little critters on the table. They all seem, so far, like a ton of fun with a lot of interesting rules and abilities. I could even see slotting Paploo into other lists since he seems relatively self-sufficient.

Support - Ewok Hunters

  • 3 PC - This is where they had to be to match Paploos 4PC. I am okay with this because varying prices allow for more flexible list-building later on when more units come out.
  • 0 FP - 
  • 8 Stamina / 2 Durability - Once again, this is a little bit surprising considering how low Chirpa is, but I am okay with it. 8/2 is on par with or better than a lot of other supports. I figured they would ride near the low end of the curve.

Stealthy Approach - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [dash]. Then this unit may gain [hunker] or immediately make a focus action. Just like with Chirpa, Paploo, and any other Ewoks who have this, I like this ability a lot. It's flexible and allows the Ewoks to play both offensively and defensively depending on what you need.

Coordinated Fire: [Pin] - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When another allied Galactic Republic character makes an attack as part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, this Unit may use this ability. If the targeted character is within [Range] 5 of a character in this Unit, the target gains [Pin]. I'm going to take a bit out of my 212th Clone guide here because I think a lot of it is relevant. Except replace where it says "Republic" with "Ewok":

CF: Pin is amazing. Pin is the second-best condition in the game and very handy to have access to. This is good for a few reasons. First, a lot of other Republic units have Pin on their combat trees which means this ability will just add one damage to the pool. Second, other Republic units also have a ton of Shoves on their combat trees. Pin your opponent and then shove them as far away as you can and they'll be sorta stuck there for a little while. If they don't want to be stuck they either have to waste an action or find a lucky heal. Either way, you win.

Camouflage - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. At the end of setup, this unit may gain [Hunker]. This is straightforward and good. Not much to say here. Get some clutch early cover if you can, otherwise you don't need to worry about deploying in the open.

Strength in Numbers - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. When a character in this unit makes an attack as part of a combat action, for each other allied Ewok character engaged with the target that is not wounded, add 1 die to the attack roll. I think this is meant to make them feel like a horde army, but that is a little bit hard with only 2 bases worth of minis. That said, this ability does give off that theme and could also be pretty easy to pull off if you have Leia around to give Ewok tags out. A few extra dice over the course of a game can go a long way.

Walkabout

This stance is a lot better than I was anticipating. 6 Attack dice at range and 5 in melee is a good start. 5 Defense dice at range and 4 in melee is also not bad at all. Their ranged expertise is pretty good for a 3pc support. The fact that they will always generate at least one crit is wonderful. Their melee expertise is okay, and extra damage is nice, but it's clear that's not where they want to be. Their defensive expertise is also just okay, but not great. The combat tree is also quite solid. They can get up to 6 damage with a whole slew of abilities and effects. That is the same amount that Paploo can do. The fact that they get a climb means they're gonna be speedy little guys. Making ranged attacks and then running away or climbing into some cover.

Overall, I think these guys are interesting. I am more excited about the Ewok heroes so far, but I think the Hunters will be a lot of fun. I am curious to see what kind of Rebel abilities they will benefit from in the future.

I think this might be my most anticipated box yet. The minis are gorgeous and all of the units seem like a ton of fun. Leia, Chripa, and Paploo are definitely going to be seeing a lot of table time from me in the very near future. This box has gotten me a lot more excited to see what the rest of the Rebel faction will look like and what kind of sneaky synergies Leia can produce with her identity.

Thanks for reading!